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This year would have marked Curt C. Silberman’s 95th birthday. Born in Wurzburg, Germany, Mr. Silberman was a jurist, educator, community leader and organizer of numerous Jewish organizations and social agencies in both Germany and the United States. As a young lawyer in Germany, Curt witnessed the disintegration of that country’s fragile democratic institutions and the suffering of his generation that ensued. He was determined that the memory of that suffering not paralyze, but educate future generations. He devoted his life of 94 years to fighting for the rights of the victims of Nazi persecution, and to assuring that the roots of prejudice and the Holocaust, and the lessons thereof, are understood, so as to serve for the betterment of society.

A crowning achievement of Dr. and Mrs. Silberman was the establishment of the Jewish and Holocaust Studies program at Middlebury College, for which Dr. Silberman was endowed the Chair and later awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1995. Today, The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation supports higher educational programs that protect and strengthen Jewish human rights values and ethical leadership, as well as promote studies of the Holocaust. The foundation has generously donated $50,000 to the Blue Card for Holocaust survivors’ dental needs. The Blue Card’s Dental Program proudly carries the name of The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation; the program provides funds for the most urgent dental necessities needed by destitute Holocaust survivors living in the United States.

The Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation for Max L. Heine

Humanitarian Award